[1] It had a fixed conventional landing gear and was powered by a 225 hp (168 kW) Lycoming R-680 engine and first flew in 1940.

[1] It had wooden wings and a steel tube forward fuselage in order to minimize use of aluminum.

[3] In 1942 the aircraft was re-engined with a 450 hp (336 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985 engine and redesignated the Model X-91.

[1][2] According to Edward H. Phillips, "At that time, worries at the War Department about a shortage of strategic materials such as aluminum alloy were rampant.

The wood/metal composite construction of the proposed monoplane, which required more raw materials than the biplane trainers on an aircraft-by-aircraft basis, was a major factor in the Air Corps' decision not to place the XBT-17 into production, according to a Boeing technical report.